by Jacqueline Seewald
My adult mystery series, featuring amateur sleuth and psychic librarian Kim Reynolds, consists of five novels: The Inferno Collection, The Drowning Pool, The Truth Sleuth, The Bad Wife, and Blood Family. They were all set in central New Jersey, where I lived for 40 years, and were contemporary novels. The need for researching history was limited.
But what about historical fiction, writing about times and people of long ago? The answer here is that writers need to do research. The fact is every novel requires a certain amount of research, some more than others. I’ve written novels set in the Regency and Georgian periods in England as well as the American West and the American Revolution. Each individual book required unique research.
I believe the best novels combine elements of what we know and what we need to find out. I’m no fan of info dumping in fiction, but writers do need to read and discover a lot more information than they will use in their work before they begin writing.
A good way to find out about a particular period is to locate available reference books at your local library for the period. Examine timelines first. What important historical and political events were happening in the world, in that country, and in the geographic area? How did people dress? What did they eat? What were their general beliefs? How were women treated? Your library catalog will allow you to locate appropriate books that you can borrow as well. Reference librarians can also provide helpful input.
One historical novelist suggests writing the book first and then researching the areas that need filling in. But I prefer immersing myself in a historical period and setting before starting to write. It’s true there will always be some essential information that requires further research. However, that should be part of the revision process.
There’s a lot of satisfaction in both reading and writing well-researched fiction, whether historical or contemporary.
My latest historical novel is published by Level Best Books. Part I of Heart of Wisdom is a historical family saga featuring a Jewish immigrant family: husband, wife, and four daughters, during the years 1920 through 1946 as they face the challenges of surviving life, love, and loss in Newark, New Jersey. The idea for this book began with my mother and the stories associated with her youth.
Part II is mainly Sora’s story, youngest daughter of the family and develops as a mystery, in which her husband is accused of a murder he did not commit. Sora, with the help of a local lawyer, is determined to prove Eli innocent. Some members of her family lend support. And, yes, I did considerable research for the sake of verisimilitude. To learn more about this novel, look it up on Goodreads or:
amazon.com/Heart-Wisdom-Jacqueline-Seewald-ebook/dp/B0C8BRFM86
barnesandnoble.com/w/books/1144049440
bookshop.org/p/books/heart-of-wisdom-jacqueline-seewald/20598287?aid=11404&ean=9781685124014&listref=level-best-2023-releases
History itself has many fascinating mysteries to explore and research which writers may wish to study for inspiration.
Your thoughts and comments welcome!
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Your book sounds fascinating. I look forward to reading it. I agree that research is important for historical novels. I prefer to write a draft first and then do the research. Thank you for an engaging article.